Warmth

Stove II

Mildred the Rayburn is suffering from a blockage and has had to be turned off until further investigation. Such it is with older appliances,they need care, love and attention to keep them going.

As a result the house is cooling down dramatically, the walls are getting colder and we have had to speed up the building of a fireplace on the other side of the chimney.

The fireplace was covered up with a Victorian fire surround which will be taken out, the chimney breast explored and within that a woodburning stove will be fitted. The Victorian fire surround will be recycled as an ornament in one of the bedrooms that boast a hole in the wall where previously a fireplace must have been. The aim will be to have an independent, safe source of heat that uses renewable materials as well as recreating the hearth of the home.

We sourced a local company not only for the woodburner but also for the work. As the building is old and listed, we wanted to do the work in keeping with the age and materials used locally. The woodburner will sit on a sheet of local slate and the fireplace will remain exposed stone.

In the middle of the Brendons is a farm where you can visit a woodstove showroom and it requires a small expedition and patience to get there. The people there are very knowledgeable and listened very carefully to my questions : a woodburning stove with ability to heat a pot or kettle, needs to be able to stay on overnight as heatsource, locally made if possible.

The result is that we had to compromise on the type stove as it depends on the chimney you have.

The men doing the work assure me that by Saturday I will be cosy without smoking the house out. I have every confidence in them. They are very polite, hardworking and only ask for coffee when they really want it.